It's 6 am and the sounds outside are changing. The noisy cicadas give way to a myriad of songs from the wide range of Bwindi's birds. It's time to come out of the lethargy of the night and that, indeed, happens very quickly. By 6:30 am, when the sun rises over the mountains the place has come to life and all the residents of Buhoma, Mukono and nearby areas are engaged in their daily activities or on-the-move to somewhere.
Alarm clocks aren't needed here, nature and human beings are as accurate as the Swiss watches they can't afford. So... it's time for us to get up and get out of the safety of our mosquito bed-net and initiate our morning routine - including freshening up with a 'bucket-and-cup' shower and preparing some breakfast. The most basic activities take their time in rural Africa. Heat up a bit of water to make the 'shower' bearable - not to mention fetching water from the communal tap 100 meters away, and we are lucky it's so near - boil a bit of water for drinking, prepare breakfast followed by bucket-driven dish washing outside the house... By the time all this is done, it's almost 8:00 am! Time to switch on the walkie-talkie (another technological wonder in the hospital) and go to work!
Every morning goes the same, we hear the African drums being played to summon the staff, and whoever wants to join, to the Out-Patient Ward's waiting area to start the day with morning prayers - as you may know, religion in Africa is still very deeply ingrained in every aspect of life. However, it isn't an exclusive exercise; within the staff there are presbyterian and catholics (together being the majority) but also Muslims, animists and those not professing any religion, but they are all encouraged to attend so we can start the day together. After the brief prayers, it's time for announcements; teams going to difficult-to-reach areas for periodic clinics, events within the hospital, welcoming of new staff members...
Anyway, time to go and do some real work!
And there I am, walking to the tent (yes a tent!) where part of the Administration team sits, me included, to plug in the lap-top and load my emails while I step outside to check how the preparation of vehicles, power generators and other equipment is going so the clinics at the hospital can start and the teams going on out-reach clinics can leave as soon as possible.
Nothing is straightforward in a remote place like Bwindi, and in Uganda in general, and last minute improvisation is the most common business technique! That's the main reason, I believe, why, in my 3 months here, there haven't been any two similar days.
(This is all for today! The lap-top battery is flashing so... All the best! and talk soon)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment